Marshall Eriksen
Marshall Eriksen is Ted's best friend since college and Lily's husband. With his smalltown upbringing, Marshall's friendly nature makes him the idealist in the group. A corporate lawyer working at Goliath National Bank. Marshall has put his dream of saving the world on hold to start a family. History Marshall met Ted Mosby and Lily Aldrin on the first day of their freshman year at Wesleyan University. Marshall majored in Biomedical Engineering, but decided against having a career in it after his obsessive reading of Huffington Post . He is a Columbia Law School graduate originally from St. Cloud, Minnesota. He is the slam dunk champion of Nicollet Country, Minnesota, with his trademark dunk the "White Windmill". He can no longer dunk because he has dancer's hip ( ). Even though Marshall is at a height of 6'4", he is the shortest male member of his family ( ). A donkey supposedly had eaten Marshall's pants the last time he was in Trenton, and at Bill's bachelor party in Memphis, they had to pump out several nickels from his stomach ( ). Marshall is extremely loyal to his friends and in particular Ted, his best friend. In the first season finale, his wedding plans are derailed when Lily pursues a painting fellowship in San Francisco, triggering a fight that ends their engagement. He and Lily rekindle their romantic relationship in Swarley, get re-engaged, and are actually married for 12 seconds in the episode Atlantic City Their wedding takes place during the last two episodes of season 2. In early 2011, Marshall and Lily are worried about their fertility status. Lily learns that she is fertile, and after some stressful days, Marshall learns that he too is fertile. During this time, Lily informs Marshall that his father, Marvin Eriksen Sr., had died as a result of a sudden heart attack. Early Life Career Personality Marshall often uses the word "Lawyered" whenever he makes a point in an argument using facts and numbers. The term has become somewhat of a catchphrase for him. Hobbies and Interests Marshall has a great love of, and often preoccupation with, food. In episodes such as The Pineapple Incident and Drumroll, Please while other characters are curious about the details of Ted's love life, Marshall is more concerned about the origin of foods associated with these details. He eats very often, consuming food such as popcorn or ice cream as a result of emotional situations. Marshall is a very capable fighter as shown in The Fight when he leveled Doug (a waiter at MacLaren's known for his violent streak) in one punch. He learned how to fight while growing up as he and his brothers often engaged in hardcore fights with weapons (as seen when Marshall attacks one of his brothers with a hot cup of cocoa and a vase) and playing the extremely violent sport "Baskiceball". Marshall is an extremely good dancer, as seen in the episode''Okay Awesome, he spent a few minutes in the bathroom looking for painkillers, and came out in an euphoric state. Hobbies and Interests Games Marshall is very good at games, as shown in the episode ''Game Night. He always wins, which prompts his friends to put him in charge of game night with the exception that he can't play. Marshall took this to mean he must make up a game, and so he does: Marshgammon, which "incorporates the best parts of all other games" with the notable exception of backgammon. When the gang was gambling in Atlantic City in the episode Atlantic City, Marshall was the only person to figure out the crazy Chinese game Barney was playing. In college, Marshall and Ted play a game called "Zitch Dog" on their road trip; Marshall won even while he was sleeping ( ) Supernatural Future In the future, he and Lily are still married during the time Future Ted relays the tale of how he met the mother. They have at least one son. Relationships Ted Mosby Marshall first met Ted in their freshman year at college. They were roommates, and initially argued and fought amongst each other. However, after a life threatening trip together, became best friends, and have remained best friends ever since. Lily Aldrin Marshall first met Lily in their freshman year of college. They almost immediately begun dating, getting engaged in the and getting married in . Barney Stinson When they first met, Barney considered Marshall to be the same "loser" as Ted, and decided to be his decision-maker (in How I Met Everyone Else). When he tried to make him cheat on his girlfriend with the red-headed hottie at the bar, Marshall plays along and surprises Barney by making out with her a few seconds after approaching her (the girl is actually Lily, whom Barney doesn't know at the time). Since then, Marshall and Barney are on a constant "fight" for the post of Ted's Best Friend, such as in Bachelor Party and Woooo!. When Barney is in a relationship with Robin, he tries to convince Marshall that he has become the best at relationships, and even teaches Marshall how to stand his ground against Lily (in Bagpipes), with disastrous consequences. Marshall and Barney seem to share a common sense of humor, laughing at most jokes together and picking up funny phrases from casual phrases. Their sense of humor sometimes border on inappropriateness (such as laughing about Barney's hypothetical naked sending-off after his death in Monday Night Football). Robin Scherbatsky Although Marshall and Robin have moderate direct interaction with each other, the two get along pretty well most of the time, and even seem to share some common characteristics. Some issues, however, have sprouted between the two in the course of the series. Robin hangs around with Lily often, as the two are best friends. Marshall being Lily's long-time boyfriend and eventual husband, this leads to Marshall and Robin hanging out often as well. In Three Days Of Snow, Robin offers to take Marshall to the airport to wait for her arrival. While driving to the airport, Marshall lets slip out that he thinks Robin is a cold-blooded robot in relationships and the fact that she hates the small niceties in a couple makes her incapable of love. Robin takes this badly and pulls over until he apologises. Just as the two are about to take off to the airport again, a blizzard engulfs the car, leaving them immobile. Robin tells Marshall to close his eyes (so that she can open the car roof and get rid of the snow), which Marshall mistakes for Robin hitting on him. At other times, Robin and Marshall try to mock each other about each other's level of attractiveness, with each trying to pass off the other as aesthetically "passable". (In Girls Versus Suits, it turns out that Marshall thinks of most women as passable, treating the new hot bartender at MacLaren's in the same way as Robin, but this seems to be because he doesn't want Lily to think he might be attracted to other women). However, both Robin and Marshall seem to have some things in common. Being both from the north (Marshall from Saint Cloud, Minnesota; and Robin from Canada), the two are impervious to New York's "mild" winter conditions. Marshall even bonds with Robin during Little Minnesota. After she confesses how homesick she is for Canada, Marshall tries to cheer her up by bringing her to his favorite bar, the Walleye Saloon. However, when Robin steals Marshall's story of the 1998 NFC Championship game, Marshall outs Robin as a Canadian, getting her kicked out of the bar. Sorry for his actions, Marshall then introduces Robin to the Hoser Hut, a Canadian-themed bar. And while Marshall and Lily were broken up (at the start of Season 2), they share a fondness for guns, albeit very temporary, as Marshall hates violence. He even refers to Robin as a gun-nut later in Little Boys, although he doesn't express it out loud. Family Notes and Trivia *Marshall cannot grow a mustache ( ) References Category:Characters Category:Goliath National Bank Category:The gang